Parisian airports operator Groupe ADP has provisionally agreed to take a 49% shareholding in the Indian company GMR Airports.
The agreement, conditional on regulatory approval, will involve acquisition of an initial shareholding of just under 25% within a few days.
ADP states that a further stage will result in its taking another 24% over the coming months.
It puts the acquisition price at around €1.36 billion.
Once completed GMR Airports will be jointly owned, with GMR Infrastructure holding the majority 51% share. But ADP says it will benefit from “very extensive” governance rights including equal board representation.
GMR Airports has interests in seven airports, operating Delhi, Hyderabad and the Philippines’ Mactan Cebu airport.
The other four comprise Goa, Nagpur, Boghapuram and Heraklion.
ADP says the transaction will have a “limited impact” on earnings per share for the next five years, but become “highly accretive” after 2025.
“In the medium and long term, this transaction will greatly contribute to the growth of the group’s return on capital employed,” it adds.
ADP chief Augustin de Romanet says the agreement will enable the company to establish a “unique global network of airports” through the combination of capabilities from ADP, TAV Airports and GMR Airports.
